Is school education breaking the cycle of poverty for children?: factors shaping education inequalities in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

Millions of poor children and families are investing scarce resources in going to school, in the hope that it will lead to a better life. This paper looks at children’s unequal trajectories from early childhood through to the time they leave school, examining how various factors are shaping their educational opportunities and achievement.

The paper employs the results of an analysis conducted in four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) and introduces the following findings:

• unequal school trajectories are set in motion during early childhood
• while there is high primary school enrolment in the study countries, there are still stark inequalities in children’s progression through school
• children’s learning outcomes are strongly shaped by household-level factors (e.g. mother tongue and levels of parental education)
• intersecting inequalities account for large achievement gaps (e.g. being a “girl” and “disadvantaged” makes the situation much more bad)
• inflexible schooling further excludes children who need to combine school with paid work and responsibilities at home
• as a result, young people are practically not relying on education as a route to employment

Conclusions are as follows:

• in order for school education to fulfill its promise as a route out of poverty, there is a need for more equitable, better-quality schooling and training that can translate into realistic opportunities for young people
• there is a need for decisive strategies that take into account the development of plans for reaching marginalised children, like girls and ethnic minorities
• broader sources of exclusion, such as rural location and household poverty should be addressed
• possibilities for more flexible and responsive schooling need to be examined (e.g. seasonal timetables and shorter day schooling)